Kalettes - the new superfood challenging kale

You might have seen a new vegetable on the menu (yes, we said new, as in you've never seen it before), and it's threatening to kick kale off the superfood throne. So at 9Kitchen we thought it was time to find out what the Kalette trend is all about, with the help of nutritionist Lola Berry.

"They are a marriage of my two favourite things, Brussells sprouts and kale," says Berry by way of explaining the pretty new vegetable. "They look like these beautiful little flowery Brussels sprouts and they have a lovely purple tinge on the outside of the leaves."

Essentially, the hybrid vegetable is like a floral Brussels sprout or a teeny-tiny kale head. While at first thought you might not be sold on the combination, Berry says there are some great benefits to this little veg, the first and best of which is its flavour profile and kitchen versatility. "They taste sweet and nutty and they lend themselves to both sweet and savoury creations – I've made a brownie recipe using them [find the recipe here] – it's so easy and a great way to sneak in some extra superfood too."

Cross or hybrid breeding of vegetables has been going on since man learned to farm, but it's only occasionally that a new vegetable turns up and gets a foothold. It doesn't mean genetic engineering, and has, in recent times, given us our favourite broccolini. Kalette is the commercial name for kale sprouts and here they are currently sourced from South Australia, and touted as the vegetable that has wider appeal than typically leathery kale and avoids the stigma of Brussels sprouts.

Kalettes

"These guys are so nutritionally dense," says Berry. "They're an awesome superfood. We're talking high in magnesium (great for helping you sleep and muscle relaxant), they're really high in fiber (so they keep you regular, lower cholesterol and help with blood pressure), and on top of that they have all the nutritional bees-knees great stuff that anything green and leafy has got, including vitamins and antioxidants."

But it's the texture that has food nerds everywhere excited. Basically the diminutive green is a more tender version of kale, making it excellent for a raw salad style meal. Where kale can sometimes require vinegar to kick-start the breakdown process for a good mouthfeel, Kalettes are tender enough to simply shred up finely and use as a salad base with no extra preparation.

"When I first came across them I was so excited because I thought they looked like little flowers," says Berry. "I treated them like Brussels at first, but then as I worked with them I realised that they were a little lighter than a Brussels, which lends them to being sautéed, cooked, or just being eaten raw." She describes the vegetable as having a fine crunch and sweet, nutty notes.

"Sometimes kale can have a bitter aftertaste, but Kalettes don’t have that at all, it's much more of a gentle flavour profile. Chop it really fine and treat it like cabbage in a salad."

Given that it's not every day that a new vegetable appears on the market, we predict that Kalettes' popularity will only grow. Besides, they take great instagram pictures, and kale can't be king forever, right? They're in season now until September, and currently you can find them exclusively at Coles supermarkets.

Oh yes, and that eggy smell you get when you cook Brussels sprouts? Well, Kalettes neatly bypass that problem too. Another win.